MINISTER CALLS FOR MEMOS ON PROPOSED NIGER DELTA COUNCIL

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani has called on the general public and government agencies to send in memoranda that could aid in the preparation for the coming Second National Council on Niger Delta.

Pastor Usani disclosed this at the Third Quarterly Meeting of Ministers, Governors of the nine states in the Niger Delta region and the International Oil and Gas Companies operating in the Niger Delta region, on Tuesday.

He said the memos will help the Ministry’s preparation for the Council on “What we can do to get better.” The Minister announced that the proposed Council will hold in September, 2017.

While unveiling the draft Work Plan for the collaboration, the Minister said the Work Plan, when ratified, would guide the development policies and programmes of all agencies in the region from 2017 to 2019.

Usani added that the purpose of the collaboration was for all parties to know what was expected of them, to avoid duplication of efforts. He assured that people would soon begin to see a change of methods of operation, as “Communities in the Niger Delta region will benefit much better than before; no more kingpin to take what belongs to the entire community.”

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Prof. Claudius Omoleye Daramola called on the platform to accommodate the aged people in the communities in their plans.

Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig. General Paul Boroh (rtd) thanked the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for initiating the platform, adding that the platform was a strategic action for the development of the Niger Delta region.

Earlier, Dr. Charles Achodo, the Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who made a presentation titled “Strategic Implementation Work Plan for the Niger Delta,” described the draft work plan as a ‘Tool for Joint Accountability Framework.’ He reiterated that with such efforts in place, militancy in the Niger Delta region would soon become history.